Future Starts Slow
by LeSylph
Summary: It's the waiting that is going to drive him crazy.  He's about to unravel.  Zane/Jo.  Rated for language.


AU. Set after the season finale. In this story I'm going with the Consortium was behind it. And of course it's Zane/Jo because they're my favorites. Also, the title is a song title by The Kills. Kind of angsty, but I hope you enjoy it! Oh and the rating is definitely for language, please be warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka or the characters and there's a line in there from the episode 3.7 Here Comes the Suns (except sort of reversed)

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><p>The waiting is what's going to drive him completely crazy. He hasn't slept in days, hell, he hasn't even changed out of the clothes he was wearing the day before. If the news that comes out of that room isn't good, he doesn't think he'll ever sleep again.<p>

The seat creaks beside him and Carter's hand lands on his shoulder. "How are you holding up?" Then the Sheriff grunts, "Stupid question, right."

Zane is glad he doesn't have to answer. Because truthfully, he isn't holding up. He feels minutes away from unraveling. He held it together during the whole Astraeus catastrophe. That's what it was. A catastrophe. A completely disastrous end to a carefully and extensively planned mission. At least he could now add "saved everyone's ass" to his resume.

And this was what was going to break him. "Have you," he forced himself to look at the Sheriff, "Have you ever…you know…"

Carter takes his time, like he can't decide whether he really wants to say what he has to say, but finally he nods. "When I was still with the U.S. Marshal's we ended up in a standoff…shots were fired, next thing I know a buddy of mine is down. He didn't make it."

His words aren't exactly comforting and Zane swallows hard. Carter hastily continues, "But we're in the place that has the best medical technology in the world. She'll be fine." He sounds like he's trying convince himself of that.

"How did this happen," Zane finds himself saying. "I was going to Titan," he laughs. "Titan, can you believe that? And Jo, she was going to sort things out. Even though she couldn't promise me anything, I sort of hoped that things would work out. They had to work out, you know?" He can't believe that he's saying all this. That this is coming out of his mouth. He's not the sentimental type, he's not the type to talk about feeling and emotions, and here he was, spilling everything to Carter just because the Sheriff happened to be sitting next to him.

But if anyone would understand, it was Jack. "Believe me," Carter says, "I know exactly what you're talking about."

Silence hits again and he's back to his own thoughts. Fuck Beverly. Fuck the Consortium. Fuck Jo for having to go all Special Forces.

He'd almost given up. He wasn't the type of guy who was going to put up with some girl's bullshit. Except Jo wasn't some girl.

She had believed in him when no one else had. She had made him into the person that he was. He was the reason that she'd made it on the Astraues team before she'd withdrawn her name. But it went both ways, without Jo, he would've been stuck in a lab tinkering on some project that he didn't give a shit about. Because before Jo, or rather new Jo, he just hadn't cared.

He and Carter both looked up as the door slid open. He had been expecting Allison but instead a nurse is walking towards them.

"Is she?"

"She's alive," the nurse affirms, "But she's still in critical condition."

Zane feels frozen and the only thing he can manage to get out is, "Okay." He hears Carter breathe a sigh of relief.

Carter is eventually replaced by Henry who is joined by Fargo. Zane hasn't moved.

"Maybe you should-" Fargo starts to say.

"Don't," Zane snaps. "Don't tell me that I should get some sleep. Not going to happen."

"Right," Fargo says. He doesn't mention it again.

He isn't sure how much time passes but people rotate. Zoe's there. "Hey," she says. He knows that she's not in town specifically for Jo. She's no doubt here for Eureka. For her dad. "Even after everything, she's still like a sister to me," Zoe says. He doesn't respond. She's studying him in an objective way, a med student kind of way. "You look hell."

"Yeah, well, I feel like it." That's an understatement. He's not sure that how he feels can be put into words.

"Broken ribs?" she asks.

"Just fractured."

She looks at his bandaged hand. "And that?"

"Electrical burn."

She ends with, "Have you slept at all?"

Zane stoically stares ahead.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that Jo would rather have you still functioning when she wakes up."

_If _she wakes up. But he realizes that Zoe is right. "You'll call me?" he asks.

"As soon as I hear anything." she assures him.

He ends up on a couch in a currently unoccupied lab and he's so exhausted that he falls asleep as he's thinking that he's never going to fall asleep.

He jerks as his phone buzzes and he realizes that it's been hours. "Anything?" he asks.

"Allison said that you can sit with her, if you want."

Of course he wants to. She's pale and still and her hand is cold. She's hooked up to a tube but Allison tells him that everything is going to be fine. He isn't so sure.

It's a day later and he's passed out in the chair when he feels someone squeeze his hand. Jo's eyes are open and she looks slightly panicked.

"It's okay," he chokes out. "You're okay."

Allison removes the tube and this time it's Jo who falls asleep. When she wakes again, Zane strokes her hair. "Jo."

"Zane," her voice is hoarse, quiet. "You're okay?"

"Me? Yeah. You scared me, you know," he says. "I don't know what I would've done…" He can't finish the sentence.

Her expression is unreadable as she says, "Come on Zane, don't go all serious on me."

It doesn't seem like a very Jo thing to say but he goes with it. "I think it's a little too late for that, Lupo."

Her grip on his hand tightens slightly. "Good," she says. "Good."

Jo is finally up and moving but she's been ordered to take time off. He keeps her company in his free time. All the relaxing is making her itch, he can tell, but it allows them the time to talk. _Really_ talk. Things that have been put on hold for awhile. "Sorry about your, uh, walkabout getting cut short." Carter had told him about it. That Jo was halfway to California when she had turned her car around after getting the Sheriff's message.

She doesn't say anything immediately but then, "I think that I'm fine with it. What I was looking for was here all along."

"Think so?"

They're sitting on her couch and Jo wraps her arms around his waist and he rests his head on hers. "Yeah," she says. "I think so."

She's back in her suit and he's glad to find that things have returned to normal. Or at least as normal as they can get after everything that's happened. He's in his lab when Jo walks in. "Hey," she says. "Fargo wanted me to check in on things." He raises his eyebrows and she gives a guilty smile, "Or I wanted to check in on you."

"Thought so."

Things have been great between them recently. "And I wanted to see if you were coming over tonight."

"Ah," he says, "The new place."

"Exactly," she's looking at him expectantly.

"I'll be there." He catches her arm before she can leave and kisses her.

There's a moment where neither of them move. "I love you, Jo."

She bites her lip. For a second he's afraid he's gone too far but she leans against him. "I love you too." Then she says, "Oh, almost forgot." Something flashes in his eye and he jumps back, surprised.

"What the hell was that?"

Jo smiles, "Retinal scan, for the new house. _Our_ new house."


End file.
